This invention relates to communications to end user communication devices and more specifically to control by the message originator of the automatic expiration, i.e. deletion, of received messages by an end user communication device, especially but not limited to, wireless end user communication devices, which may be made by different manufacturers and/or have different operating systems.
Wireless communication devices are now prevalent throughout all developed countries of the world. Although cellular telephones are currently the most widespread, other types of wireless communication devices include personal digital assistants, laptop computers with Wi-Fi and/or telecommunication carrier communication support, and various types of “pads” that provide visual displays that are larger than conventional cellular telephones but typically smaller than the displays of a laptop computer. Wireless voice communications between mobile devices utilizing different types of communication protocols, e.g. analog, TDMA, CDMA, VOIP, etc., are supported by different telecommunication carriers which provide appropriate communication protocol interfaces/gateways to facilitate voice communications between mobile units using different communication protocols.
Various types of transport layer communication protocols are supported by wireless communication devices. For example, text messaging, short messaging service (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), email such as by simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), and instant messaging utilizing hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) are available. Each type service is supported by a transport layer communication protocol that is part of the telecommunication signaling structure associated with the transport of user communications and the communication of telecommunication infrastructure commands and signals. In order to prevent network congestion and/or overload, telecommunication networks may utilize a time to live (TTL) parameter for messages being transmitted through the network. The TTL parameter establishes a maximum time that a message is allowed to remain active in the network pending delivery. This permits the network to discard messages after the TTL time expires in order to prevent the network from being congested with an accumulating number of messages that cannot be delivered. The TTL parameter is only used within the transport network and has no impact on messages that are delivered to users.
Increasingly businesses and advertisers are utilizing data messages as a way to reach potential customers as well as communicate with existing customers. There are circumstances where such a data message may only be relevant for a particular time interval. For example, a business may send data messages to potential customers for a particular promotion where the promotion is only valid for a predetermined time, e.g. an airline may send data messages on a Tuesday to potential customers offering a special low-fare for flights between selected cities on the following Saturday and Sunday. For a potential customer who, for whatever reason, first reads such a data message on the following Monday, the promotional offer has expired. Thus, the very act of reading this data message is a waste of time, and may constitute an irritant. There exists a need to be able to originate data messages with the ability to limit how long the delivered messages may be accessed, e.g. displayed, on the recipient's communication device.